If you have a spare 15 minutes this is a video well worth checking out!
A quartet of ACO musicians (Richard Tognetti, Helena Rathbone, Christopher Moore and Timo-Veikko Valve) perform around a desk at the National Public Radio office in the USA. They play some Ravel and are joined by Joseph Tawadros on the oud for an Egyptian-Classical piece.
Click here to see the ACO Tiny Desk Concert.
Showing posts with label US Tour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label US Tour. Show all posts
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
Wednesday, 7 October 2009
Thursday, 1 October 2009
Washingon Post Review
When the Australian Chamber Orchestra plays in unison, it sounds like what it is: a lot of instruments playing together. Not for this group the polish, or masquerade, of many voices sounding as one. Instead, you get many voices sounding like many: an energetic chorus, with a slight burr and warmth, conveying a visceral thrill every time they plunge together into a work after the downbeat from its violinist-leader, Richard Tognetti.
Indeed, the ACO, which on Tuesday opened the season of the Kennedy Center's Fortas Chamber Music Concerts, offers some of the energy and vibe of a rock band with the ability of a crack classical chamber group. Its freshness is remarkable. The young players all perform standing (except, of course, for the cellists), which seems to allow a greater physical connection to the music -- although it's hard to imagine that even seating this bunch would do much to rein them in. To look at the ensemble, you would never suspect it had been formed in 1975; Tognetti, himself a youthful-seeming elder statesman, took over as artistic director in 1990 at the age of 25, and appears to be the oldest person onstage.
Young energy doesn't have to mean in-your-face rebellion against the classical music status quo. It's true that the ensemble's second program this week, scheduled for Wednesday night, includes an arrangement of "Shine On, You Crazy Diamond" from Pink Floyd's 1975 album, "Wish You Were Here." But Tuesday's program was straight-ahead classical; the only twist was the quality of energy that came through in the playing. Indeed, the program was downright conservative if measured against Pink Floyd standards.
Conservative, however, is not the best way to describe an evening that juxtaposes bracing Handel, Elgar (one of the rare times in performance history when "bracing Elgar" was not an oxymoron) and Bart?k with a string-quartet arrangement by the 54-year-old Australian composer Carl Vine, and a couple of brief concerto-like pieces for solo violin (Tognetti's own arrangement of Ravel's "Deux M?lodies H?braiques") thrown in for good measure. Tognetti seems to come up with consistently vital, interesting programming.
The very first piece, the seventh Concerto Grosso of the 12 that make up Handel's Op. 6, showed a thoughtful match of players and work. The repeated bow strokes that marked the start of the canon, in each voice, underlined the particular rough, taut energy of this group's sound and the no-frills brand of musical gutsiness that was to characterize the concert as a whole.
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That's not to say the players aren't capable of delicacy as well, such as in the string solos that dominated the slow central movement of Vine's piece, called "Smith's Alchemy." This was a muscular and wide-ranging piece of pleasing if slightly ingratiating solidity, with more than a few overtones of Prokofiev in the roughly dancing tunes above bitter sawing rhythms in the first movement.
The weak spot on the program was a bonbon: Tognetti's arrangement of the fifth Paganini Caprice, which he prefaced with a few remarks that placed it in the same aesthetic territory as the avant-garde cuisine of restaurants like El Bulli or the Fat Duck: an unexpected transformation, like egg-and-bacon ice cream. The result was both fiendish and pleasant, but -- as played by Tognetti and Satu Vanska, backed by the remaining players -- not quite clean or in tune enough to feel like the virtuosic showpiece it represents.
The Paganini was perhaps a nod to a notable absence on the program: There was no featured soloist, apart from Tognetti. The group has often toured in the past with big-name artists. On Tuesday, the group itself was sufficient highlight -- as it abundantly demonstrated in Bart?k's Divertimento for Strings, a powerful and moving finish.
Indeed, the ACO, which on Tuesday opened the season of the Kennedy Center's Fortas Chamber Music Concerts, offers some of the energy and vibe of a rock band with the ability of a crack classical chamber group. Its freshness is remarkable. The young players all perform standing (except, of course, for the cellists), which seems to allow a greater physical connection to the music -- although it's hard to imagine that even seating this bunch would do much to rein them in. To look at the ensemble, you would never suspect it had been formed in 1975; Tognetti, himself a youthful-seeming elder statesman, took over as artistic director in 1990 at the age of 25, and appears to be the oldest person onstage.
Young energy doesn't have to mean in-your-face rebellion against the classical music status quo. It's true that the ensemble's second program this week, scheduled for Wednesday night, includes an arrangement of "Shine On, You Crazy Diamond" from Pink Floyd's 1975 album, "Wish You Were Here." But Tuesday's program was straight-ahead classical; the only twist was the quality of energy that came through in the playing. Indeed, the program was downright conservative if measured against Pink Floyd standards.
Conservative, however, is not the best way to describe an evening that juxtaposes bracing Handel, Elgar (one of the rare times in performance history when "bracing Elgar" was not an oxymoron) and Bart?k with a string-quartet arrangement by the 54-year-old Australian composer Carl Vine, and a couple of brief concerto-like pieces for solo violin (Tognetti's own arrangement of Ravel's "Deux M?lodies H?braiques") thrown in for good measure. Tognetti seems to come up with consistently vital, interesting programming.
The very first piece, the seventh Concerto Grosso of the 12 that make up Handel's Op. 6, showed a thoughtful match of players and work. The repeated bow strokes that marked the start of the canon, in each voice, underlined the particular rough, taut energy of this group's sound and the no-frills brand of musical gutsiness that was to characterize the concert as a whole.
ad_icon
That's not to say the players aren't capable of delicacy as well, such as in the string solos that dominated the slow central movement of Vine's piece, called "Smith's Alchemy." This was a muscular and wide-ranging piece of pleasing if slightly ingratiating solidity, with more than a few overtones of Prokofiev in the roughly dancing tunes above bitter sawing rhythms in the first movement.
The weak spot on the program was a bonbon: Tognetti's arrangement of the fifth Paganini Caprice, which he prefaced with a few remarks that placed it in the same aesthetic territory as the avant-garde cuisine of restaurants like El Bulli or the Fat Duck: an unexpected transformation, like egg-and-bacon ice cream. The result was both fiendish and pleasant, but -- as played by Tognetti and Satu Vanska, backed by the remaining players -- not quite clean or in tune enough to feel like the virtuosic showpiece it represents.
The Paganini was perhaps a nod to a notable absence on the program: There was no featured soloist, apart from Tognetti. The group has often toured in the past with big-name artists. On Tuesday, the group itself was sufficient highlight -- as it abundantly demonstrated in Bart?k's Divertimento for Strings, a powerful and moving finish.
Washington Review
The Australian Chamber Orchestra came to the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater last night, as the season opener of the Fortas Chamber Music Series. The visit was made possible in part with the help of the Australian Embassy, which also brought along a large representation to fill the audience and mingle before the concert and at a subsequent reception. Those who are familiar with the ACO from their recordings or from their 2007 concert at the Clarice Smith Center know that one can count on the group to provide unusual programming, uncanny unity of ensemble, clear attack, and cogent musical ideas. None of those things was lacking in this daringly played and musically incisive concert. Read full review.
Monday, 11 May 2009
US Review, Santa Barbara Independent
Australian Chamber Orchestra with Andreas Scholl, Countertenor
Outstanding Countertenor Impresses Lobero Audience on Wednesday Night
By Charles Donelan
Thursday, April 30, 2009
The 18th century took music to its outer limits. Any doubts on that score were settled early in this, the final concert of the season in CAMA’s Masterseries at the Lobero. Richard Tognetti led his breathtaking ensemble on a wild ride through the entire development of music during this long century of discovery, all the way from the exuberant Concerto Grosso Op. 3 No. 11 of Antonio Vivaldi (1711) to the Symphony No. 44 in E Minor of Joseph Haydn (1771). The Australian Chamber Orchestra, in a gesture toward earlier performance tradition, plays with only the cellists seated, and the rest of the ensemble standing and free to move within the framework of a rough semi-circle. Those who heard the sensational Sejong ensemble with Gil Shaham just a few weeks ago would have recognized this tactic, but perhaps not the added crunch and splash of energy continuously cascading off the ACO. The Vivaldi was plangent and beautiful, easing the audience by degrees toward the electrifying operatic excerpts from George Frideric Handel that were to come. Read more
Outstanding Countertenor Impresses Lobero Audience on Wednesday Night
By Charles Donelan
Thursday, April 30, 2009
The 18th century took music to its outer limits. Any doubts on that score were settled early in this, the final concert of the season in CAMA’s Masterseries at the Lobero. Richard Tognetti led his breathtaking ensemble on a wild ride through the entire development of music during this long century of discovery, all the way from the exuberant Concerto Grosso Op. 3 No. 11 of Antonio Vivaldi (1711) to the Symphony No. 44 in E Minor of Joseph Haydn (1771). The Australian Chamber Orchestra, in a gesture toward earlier performance tradition, plays with only the cellists seated, and the rest of the ensemble standing and free to move within the framework of a rough semi-circle. Those who heard the sensational Sejong ensemble with Gil Shaham just a few weeks ago would have recognized this tactic, but perhaps not the added crunch and splash of energy continuously cascading off the ACO. The Vivaldi was plangent and beautiful, easing the audience by degrees toward the electrifying operatic excerpts from George Frideric Handel that were to come. Read more
Friday, 1 May 2009
Aussie violinist surfs through music and life
Aussie violinist surfs through music and life
by Bradley Bambarger/The Star-Ledger
Thursday April 30, 2009, 2:44 PM
It isn't your usual classical violinist who is also a surfer. Or who teaches Russell Crowe how to fiddle for a film. Or who gushes about the hard-rock charms of AC/DC. But Richard Tognetti is from Down Under, and the 43-year-old likes to do things differently.
Tognetti has led the Australian Chamber Orchestra for the past 20 years, not only enlivening the limited repertoire for a small orchestra but helping to expand it. The group performs Baroque music with the zest of a period-minded ensemble, but balances contemporary pieces right alongside. Balance is part of music's connection to surfing, which Tognetti explored in the prize-winning film "Musica Surfica," out now on DVD.
"Of all the sports, surfing has the strongest connection to music -- the balance, the rhythm, basically the dance," Tognetti says. "Anyway, you couldn't make a film about music in golf, could you? I suppose you could make a documentary about English football songs, but would you want to keep hearing them long enough to do it?"
Tognetti and the ACO have shown their taste and teamwork with a series of vibrant recordings over the years. They have made multiple discs of Bach, from the violin concertos with Tognetti soloing (on his invaluable 17th-century Guarneri) to the keyboard concertos accompanying pianist Angela Hewitt. Their discography also highlighted by the works of signature Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe, as well as custom transcriptions of pieces by the likes of Janacek and Szymanowski.
Tognetti and company have celebrated their connection with a 20th anniversary U.S. tour, which culminates this week. Of his ensemble, he says, "They have this incredibly open-minded spirit. I do like to explore things, and they have always gone down the path with me."
The Australians' program Sunday at Carnegie's Zankel Hall features a nod to this year's big anniversaries of Haydn and Handel. Star German counter-tenor Andreas Scholl will join the group for a selection of arias by Handel. Tognetti, directing from the violin as was often the case in Hadyn's day, will lead the orchestra in the composer's Symphony No. 44 in E minor "Mourning."
"Haydn's my favorite composer for small orchestra -- there is so much imagination, surprise and joy in his music," Tognetti says. "This symphony has the nickname 'Mourning' not because it's that melancholy, but because he was so in love with the slow movement that he said that he would like to have it played at his funeral."
The tour finishes Monday at Princeton's McCarter Theatre, with a different top soloist on the bill -- English pianist Paul Lewis. The protege of Alfred Brendel has made his name with stylish takes on the Viennese classics, and Tognetti says to "listen for his voicing of chords in Mozart's Piano Concerto K. 414 -- you can hear all the music in them in a way few pianists manage."
Both programs include a piece by Czech composer Pavel Haas, a student of Janacek who died in Auschwitz. Tognetti arranged his "From the Monkey Mountains" string quartet, "an astonishing piece," he says. "Haas wrote it in 1925, and you can hear the influence of jazz rhythms. It's what I call Expressionist Impressionism -- it can be violent, but also evocative and beautiful. You can get lost in this music, and that's always the ideal, whether a player or a listener."
by Bradley Bambarger/The Star-Ledger
Thursday April 30, 2009, 2:44 PM
It isn't your usual classical violinist who is also a surfer. Or who teaches Russell Crowe how to fiddle for a film. Or who gushes about the hard-rock charms of AC/DC. But Richard Tognetti is from Down Under, and the 43-year-old likes to do things differently.
Tognetti has led the Australian Chamber Orchestra for the past 20 years, not only enlivening the limited repertoire for a small orchestra but helping to expand it. The group performs Baroque music with the zest of a period-minded ensemble, but balances contemporary pieces right alongside. Balance is part of music's connection to surfing, which Tognetti explored in the prize-winning film "Musica Surfica," out now on DVD.
"Of all the sports, surfing has the strongest connection to music -- the balance, the rhythm, basically the dance," Tognetti says. "Anyway, you couldn't make a film about music in golf, could you? I suppose you could make a documentary about English football songs, but would you want to keep hearing them long enough to do it?"
Tognetti and the ACO have shown their taste and teamwork with a series of vibrant recordings over the years. They have made multiple discs of Bach, from the violin concertos with Tognetti soloing (on his invaluable 17th-century Guarneri) to the keyboard concertos accompanying pianist Angela Hewitt. Their discography also highlighted by the works of signature Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe, as well as custom transcriptions of pieces by the likes of Janacek and Szymanowski.
Tognetti and company have celebrated their connection with a 20th anniversary U.S. tour, which culminates this week. Of his ensemble, he says, "They have this incredibly open-minded spirit. I do like to explore things, and they have always gone down the path with me."
The Australians' program Sunday at Carnegie's Zankel Hall features a nod to this year's big anniversaries of Haydn and Handel. Star German counter-tenor Andreas Scholl will join the group for a selection of arias by Handel. Tognetti, directing from the violin as was often the case in Hadyn's day, will lead the orchestra in the composer's Symphony No. 44 in E minor "Mourning."
"Haydn's my favorite composer for small orchestra -- there is so much imagination, surprise and joy in his music," Tognetti says. "This symphony has the nickname 'Mourning' not because it's that melancholy, but because he was so in love with the slow movement that he said that he would like to have it played at his funeral."
The tour finishes Monday at Princeton's McCarter Theatre, with a different top soloist on the bill -- English pianist Paul Lewis. The protege of Alfred Brendel has made his name with stylish takes on the Viennese classics, and Tognetti says to "listen for his voicing of chords in Mozart's Piano Concerto K. 414 -- you can hear all the music in them in a way few pianists manage."
Both programs include a piece by Czech composer Pavel Haas, a student of Janacek who died in Auschwitz. Tognetti arranged his "From the Monkey Mountains" string quartet, "an astonishing piece," he says. "Haas wrote it in 1925, and you can hear the influence of jazz rhythms. It's what I call Expressionist Impressionism -- it can be violent, but also evocative and beautiful. You can get lost in this music, and that's always the ideal, whether a player or a listener."
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
A great review in the San Francisco Chronicle
Music review: Australian Chamber Orchestra
Joshua Kosman, Chronicle Music Critic
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
For vitality, elegance, playfulness and technical prowess - all the qualities you want in a chamber ensemble, really - it would be hard to top the Australian Chamber Orchestra, which made one of its rare but indispensable visits to the Bay Area on Sunday afternoon.
Under Richard Tognetti, the group's artistic director and concertmaster, this crackerjack ensemble plays with the sort of fleet rhythmic control and tonal purity that most chamber groups can only envy. And Sunday's concert, presented by Cal Performances in Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall, was a first-rate showcase for all those qualities.
For some listeners, Sunday's headliner was countertenor Andreas Scholl, who joined the orchestra for six Handel arias (divided, after a little last-minute program shuffling, onto either side of the intermission). But from where I sat, the afternoon's chief marvel was the orchestra itself.
The group plays standing up - a seemingly small touch that nonetheless pays off in alertness and buoyancy - and Tognetti leads the proceedings with whatever combination of bow arm, elbow, shoulders or chin he has available at any given moment. The core string sonorities are rich but sinewy, and the handful of wind and brass players filling out the lineup for this tour were a welcome addition.
The afternoon's lofty level was set right out of the gate, with a brisk and beautifully balanced account of Haydn's Symphony No. 44. This is one of the composer's rare minor-key symphonies - its mood divided between intense, shadowy Sturm und Drang and a lighter, more carefree touch - and the orchestra captured both veins superbly.
Scholl's contributions were more of a mixed bag. His vocal tone is vividly bright, his diction impeccable and his command of Baroque style utterly fluent. But except in his upper range, his sound is so underpowered that there is a sense of effort throughout.
That was especially notable in the more dramatic selections, particularly the recitatives to selections from "Rodelinda" and "Giulio Cesare" (some of which were barely audible) and the exclamatory aria "Vivi tiranno!," also from "Rodelinda."
Still, the lyrical phrases of Handel's more intimate writing registered beautifully, and in "Va tacito e nascosto" from "Giulio Cesare," ably partnered by hornist Robert Johnson, Scholl created a strong dramatic scene without worrying too much about vocal weight.
The rest of the orchestral program was splendidly played - particularly "From the Monkey Mountains Suite," arranged by Tognetti from the vividly folkloric String Quartet No. 2 by the Czech-Jewish composer Pavel Haas (one of the group of composers interned by the Nazis at the Terezín concentration camp).
Australian composer Roger Smalley contributed "Footwork," an edgy, discordant tango that sounds like the music Bernard Herrmann must have written for the deleted scene in "Psycho" where Norman Bates takes Marion Crane dancing. As an encore, there was a delightfully rambunctious account of "The Noise of War" by Rameau.
E-mail Joshua Kosman at jkosman@sfchronicle.com.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/28/DDAU179OUS.DTL
This article appeared on page E - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Joshua Kosman, Chronicle Music Critic
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
For vitality, elegance, playfulness and technical prowess - all the qualities you want in a chamber ensemble, really - it would be hard to top the Australian Chamber Orchestra, which made one of its rare but indispensable visits to the Bay Area on Sunday afternoon.
Under Richard Tognetti, the group's artistic director and concertmaster, this crackerjack ensemble plays with the sort of fleet rhythmic control and tonal purity that most chamber groups can only envy. And Sunday's concert, presented by Cal Performances in Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall, was a first-rate showcase for all those qualities.
For some listeners, Sunday's headliner was countertenor Andreas Scholl, who joined the orchestra for six Handel arias (divided, after a little last-minute program shuffling, onto either side of the intermission). But from where I sat, the afternoon's chief marvel was the orchestra itself.
The group plays standing up - a seemingly small touch that nonetheless pays off in alertness and buoyancy - and Tognetti leads the proceedings with whatever combination of bow arm, elbow, shoulders or chin he has available at any given moment. The core string sonorities are rich but sinewy, and the handful of wind and brass players filling out the lineup for this tour were a welcome addition.
The afternoon's lofty level was set right out of the gate, with a brisk and beautifully balanced account of Haydn's Symphony No. 44. This is one of the composer's rare minor-key symphonies - its mood divided between intense, shadowy Sturm und Drang and a lighter, more carefree touch - and the orchestra captured both veins superbly.
Scholl's contributions were more of a mixed bag. His vocal tone is vividly bright, his diction impeccable and his command of Baroque style utterly fluent. But except in his upper range, his sound is so underpowered that there is a sense of effort throughout.
That was especially notable in the more dramatic selections, particularly the recitatives to selections from "Rodelinda" and "Giulio Cesare" (some of which were barely audible) and the exclamatory aria "Vivi tiranno!," also from "Rodelinda."
Still, the lyrical phrases of Handel's more intimate writing registered beautifully, and in "Va tacito e nascosto" from "Giulio Cesare," ably partnered by hornist Robert Johnson, Scholl created a strong dramatic scene without worrying too much about vocal weight.
The rest of the orchestral program was splendidly played - particularly "From the Monkey Mountains Suite," arranged by Tognetti from the vividly folkloric String Quartet No. 2 by the Czech-Jewish composer Pavel Haas (one of the group of composers interned by the Nazis at the Terezín concentration camp).
Australian composer Roger Smalley contributed "Footwork," an edgy, discordant tango that sounds like the music Bernard Herrmann must have written for the deleted scene in "Psycho" where Norman Bates takes Marion Crane dancing. As an encore, there was a delightfully rambunctious account of "The Noise of War" by Rameau.
E-mail Joshua Kosman at jkosman@sfchronicle.com.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/28/DDAU179OUS.DTL
This article appeared on page E - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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